Last time I was in a traditional D&D setting one of the guys used to joke that he wanted to one day open a door to find it let directly into the gaping maw of a tarrasque… just so he could quietly close it again. (He wasn’t a Call of Cthulu player, hehe)

He was. I’ve always wondered why. I can accept that Legolas, as an elf and quasi-angel, would not be afraid, and that Aragorn and the rest of the Dunedain are hard-boiled enough not to get scared, but I always wondered why Gimli was so frightened. You might think that as a member of one of the elder races he’d share a portion of the same fearlessness Legolas has.

I know nothing whatsoever about Call of Cthulhu. I’ve never played, never seen a rulebook, never read a story. Everything I know about the game is gleaned from the comments here. I get the idea that it involves people investigating cults, seeing horrors, and then either being killed or going insane.

So, if the text I wrote for Gimli doesn’t fit CoC for whatever reason, that’s why.

FANTASTIC!!!!!! I loved it LOL!!!! and if you’ve got the stone’s, I took that to mean if you’ve got the ball’s!!! lol
awaiting more, eagerly.
Bex’s
xxxx

BTW I haven’t played in year’s and could love to get back into role playing, as in a board, a gruop of people and servrel pizza box’s, I dont have a games workshop anywhere near me thow sadly, any idear’s peep’s???

That being said, go play some. Find a good Keeper (GM), get into the right frame of mind, and don’t get too attached to your character.

If you can’t find a good Keeper, read the stories. The good thing about the stories is that they vary greatly in length; you can spend an afternoon or two at the Mountains of Madness, or flip through the Statement of Randolph Carter in ten minutes before you go to supposed sleep. Whether you have the weekend off or a lunch break to fill, there’s a story just long enough for it.

My recommendations for the new reader:
The aforementioned Statement of Randolph Carter
Pickman’s Model
The Dunwich Horror
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Dreams in the Witch-House
The Call of Cthulhu

In that approximate order. The Dunwich Horror is a particular favorite of mine, being as close as you get to an archtypical mythos tale(although CoC and tSoI are both good examples). I’m sure every cthulian has his favorite.

Gimli goes last in the movie because he’s the comic relief; fearlessness of the elder races has got nothing on Hollywood formulas.

CoC is roleplaying a race to see if you can go nuts before you’re eaten. As previously mentioned, you’ve got it pretty much spot on, but needs more tentacles. (Not entirely sure why tentacles are terrifying; I _like_ calimari myself.)

Heh, great quote Shamus. I am currently in a CoC campaign and it’s a lil slow going at the moment. So far the scariest thing was seeing a group of Mi-Go during some sort of ritual. If you want a good feel for CoC, look for any H.P. Lovecraft books, since it’s his works that the game is based upon.

That, and it’s very difficult to make something seem scary if your characters all take it in stride. If it wasn’t for Gimli going chicken, would it have seemed any different than Moria, or Helm’s Deep?

intestinal fortitude equals guts. I never even heard the short one until I had heard the long version for years, because that’s what my dad always said.

What is this with tentacles? Many Lovecraft mythos stories don’t involve tentacles and the shadow over Innsmouth is one of the most obvious. And many other mythos authors weren’t partial to tentacles at all, such as Robert E. Howard and Frank belknap long.

Love it! I’m so glad I stumbled upon this site a while back. I love CoC and just because someone said Cthulhu, and just in case any of you CoC folks have missed it, I give you Calls for Cthulhu (I love this so much I can’t help but share. I suppose I could, but I’m not going to).

I just wish the insanity rules were not so much of, “You failed your SAN check, you therefore will spend the next 1d10 rounds trying to find a men’s room in order to shave all your body hair off. Meanwhile, the monsters are eating the rest of the party.”

Oddly, though, a CoC “Keeper” will often make sure that it’s the characters who go insane that actually survive.

Gimli was the last to enter the Paths of the Dead in the books and the movie. This never surprised me becuase the aura of terror that lays over the area {books}. Elves do not fear the spirits of the dead {as Legolas says in the books}. Also consider that Aragorn does acquit himself well against the nazgul at Weathertop.

What a stupid post. I sound like a Tolkein geek. And has nothing to do with the comic, which rocks.

If I may elaborate, as an unashamed Tolkien geek, as post #33 says; Gimli was terrified. Tolkien underscores the terror evoked by the Paths of the Dead by having a DWARF greatly fear to go on even though he would normally be unafraid of going underground. Remember he supported Gandalf in the decision to go through Moria though Aragorn and the others were reluctant. This device by Tolkien also displays the great love the Rangers have for Aragorn, the nature of Legolas(and elves) and the relationship between Legolas and nature (he has authority over the horses). And Gimli’s character is elevated also, because he, in the end, chooses to continue.

>BTW I haven’t played in year’s and could love to get back into role playing, as in a board, a gruop of people and servrel pizza box’s, I dont have a games workshop anywhere near me thow sadly, any idear’s peep’s???

Dating yourself somewhat there chum… Games Workshop hasn’t sold RPG stuff in a LOOOOONG time. You need to find a hobby shop in your town and read/post a “Players Wanted” note on their bulletin board.

As others have mentioned, Shamus, the CoC reference is pretty much dead on, I loved it ^_^

I’ve also been playing a lot of Arkham Horror lately which is no where near as hard core, but it is a great game based on the Cthulhu Mythos.

As far as Gimli going last, I always chalked it up to him hearing far more stories of the place and how horrifying it is because of how dwarves are generally underground a lot anyway. Like the difference between someone who has been brought up with the whole “don’t walk under ladders” thing being freaked out while someone who hasn’t just walks underneath them without worry.

Oddly, though, a CoC “Keeper” will often make sure that it’s the characters who go insane that actually survive.

Actually, this isn’t odd at all… Once an opponent sees his foe hopelessly wandering around doing things that have nothing to do with the combat at hand (at tentacle?), why kill him? Kill everyone else who’s still a threat! :)

Oh Lord, this is gonna be fun. Are you using the Extended Edition? ‘Cause there’s a shot in those of Gimli stepping on a skeleton, and I’m not sure if it’s in the normal ones…Is he going to be so Bold & Brave then?

I’m a CoC player (and GM) far more often than a D&D player; I prefer it because it is so deadly. If I manage to survive an adventure with sanity intact, I feel like it’s an accomplishment, rather than simply gaining the most XP or treasure out of the group. I like the cards to be stacked against me.

That said, there is a wider variety of CoC games than simply “Investigate cult. See monster. Go insane/die” (although that is a lot of them). There are some humorous modules out there, like Blood Brothers, which has the awesome cover of Cthulhu holding a chainsaw, Leatherface style.

Being a CoC Keeper since the first release/first printing of the rpg, and reading the Lovecraft and his minions, er, fellow authors, and even having the first edition printing of AD&D Deities & DemiGods that included the Cthulhu Mythos, and, finally, as President of the Miskatonic University Tri-Omegas….. >pantWHaCK, THuD

What is this with tentacles? Many Lovecraft mythos stories don’t involve tentacles and the shadow over Innsmouth is one of the most obvious.

True enough, but you do need to throw the words “antidiluvian” “non-euclidean” and “eldrich” in there somewhere somewhere. :)

CoC is an awesome game. One of the best campaigns I ever ran was Horror on the Orient Express. Phenomenal module. And you have a perfect excuse for “railroading” the characters (it taking place on a train and all) :)

Shamus: After playing D&D for some years, I finally played Call of Cthuhlu, and I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

The game is easy to learn – easy enough that it’s enough for the GM to have the rulebook and explain how to create a character and play the game. No complicated mechanics like in D&D. Everything is d% skill based. The campaigns are separated into short, almost independent chapters that can be played in an afternoon. And best of all, CoC eliminates the “arms race” mentality of D&D that causes players to focus on gathering wealth, magic items, XP, feats, and so on, freeing you up for actual role-playing. You can improve your skills and equipment after completing a chapter, but there aren’t any “character levels” in the D&D sense. And learning a spell is a dangerous thing indeed.

I love D&D, but after playing CoC I can see why it won awards for game design. Great fun for even a hard-core D&D player, especially when you have to role-play phobias and philias that you accumulate. Don’t be disappointed in a TPK; in a well-run game, it may actually be preferable to be killed before losing all sanity! -A

If you do play CoC, don’t bother with the d20 adaptation, which shifts the focus to combat, leveling, etc. Play the Chaosium version, which focuses on solving problems using the skills your character has, and role-playing. It’s the lack of d20 rules, in this case, that make the game fun; otherwise it may as well be D20 Modern. -A

There is no greater RPG setting than Cthulhu – Sure for the GM its about sending players insane at the drop of a hat, but for the players it should be a journey from normality (or whatever they consider normal) through the realms of the bizare, the unfathomable and into the down right terrifying. The coolest thing about Lovecraft’s world is that as you peel away reality the true horror of his vision is only there to be understood by the truely insane, Also Cat lovers.

Currently Running a 1920’s D20 Gangstergame, the coolest thing is the players dont yet KNOW its Cthulhu…. *Evil Grin*

I’ve found the same thing is true of most of the old games like Deadlands. Play the one that uses all die types (except d20), poker chips, and cards! Who needs that namby-pamby d20 crap anyways? D20 was one of the worst [venereal] diseases to be spread to old rpg games; it’s why L5R or CoC or any other old edition is just better.

I’ve heard the Blue Rose system highly recommended as a return to role-playing, though. I personally recommend Deliria, a modern-fairy tale system, which uses no dice at all.

I think the d20 system works quite well as a replacement system for some games. The the old Star Wars rules come to mind, I always thought those were a bit sketchy. However for CoC, the original Chaosium system is definitely the way to go. It a very elegant system that is perfectly matched with the tone of the game. And one of the beauties of it is that the Keeper is the only one who really needs a rulebook, and during actual game play, all you really need are the monster stats and the Resistance Table. Ya gotta love the elegance of a system where just about anything can be resolved using one table.

RKB said:
GEBIV: Wait. I thought Gimli was the last one into the dungeon?

He was. I’ve always wondered why. I can accept that Legolas, as an elf and quasi-angel, would not be afraid, and that Aragorn and the rest of the Dunedain are hard-boiled enough not to get scared, but I always wondered why Gimli was so frightened. You might think that as a member of one of the elder races he’d share a portion of the same fearlessness Legolas has.

That said, I love this version. Fhtagn!

********************************************************

Elves do not fear the ghosts of men or other creatures because of the fact that death is not a mystery to them. There is no sense of the unknown and unknowable for them. They are simply aware that to die is to be sent to Mandos halls from which they will not be able to leave. Mandos’ halls, however, are easily reachable by living people that know how to get to the west.

In Tolkien’s Earth, a lot of the fear of the undead comes from the fact that the men and dwarves know so very little of what happens after they die. Everything about that existence is totally alien to them.

Elves and Half-Elves that choose Immortality, are bound by Fate, and thus they have little fear of the uncertainty of the future. However, that also means that they cannot really escape it.

Humanity and Dwarves and Hobbits are NOT bound by Fate, which means that they usually remain in middle-earth only for a short while before moving on to places that not even the Valar know. This was intended as a gift, but Melkor corrupted the perception of it in the beginning so that the transition from life to death is filled with terror and dread.

It might even be somewhat worse for dwarves as they are not the products of Eru like Men and Elves, but rather a craft of Aule and though they were finally approved of by Eru, they don’t have quite the same stamp of authenticity behind them.

This is possibly why the minor rings did not work on them in the same way they worked on the Nine. Originally, the Nine and the Seven all belonged to the elves who made the Three. When Sauron crafted the One and placed it on the finger, all the wearers of the Rings were open to his power, however, since the Three were made WITHOUT his help and knowledge, they were not as vulnerable to the One. As such, the elves were able to take their rings off and not use them.

Sauron made war on the Elven smiths then, and obliterated that nation, taking the Nine and the Seven back for his own use while the elves managed to sneak the Three out to Elrond, Galadriel and the master of the Grey Havens. At this point, the Nine and the Seven were not regarded as seperate kinds, but then Sauron began using them as bribes to dwarves and men. The rings worked exactly as intended on the Men, but the dwarves proved resistant and only became greedier.

If a human were to find one of the remaining of the Seven Dwarven Rings (the majority seem to have been destroyed) then they would act on them most likely in the same way they acted on the Nazghul…in essence creating a tenth full Nazghul (rather than a mere minor wraith such as Frodo would have become from the stab)

That is an instance where the differences of dwarven nature is a benefit.

However, because they cannot be even as sure as humans are about their place in the afterlife (and humans, not being bound by Fate, know very little of their possible reward or torment) they are more shaken than other races by ghosts and places haunted.

Aragorn, the Grey Company and the Sons of Elrond, all being Dunedains and Half-Elves that chose mortality, would have been shaken, but had also had many years to prepare for this point, knowing, after all, that Aragorn was likely going to have to walk this road at some point.

“Elves do not fear the ghosts of men or other creatures because of the fact that death is not a mystery to them. There is no sense of the unknown and unknowable for them.”

True.

“They are simply aware that to die is to be sent to Mandos halls from which they will not be able to leave.”

Not exactly. Most elves eventually leave Mandos’ halls and become re-embodied. Some of the few exceptions include Feanor’s mother, who refused to leave the halls of Mandos; and Feanor himself, who is not allowed to leave until the end of the world. The Sons of Feanor likewise cannot leave the halls of Mandos until the end of the world because of their oath and the evil deeds they committed as a result of their oath.

Other elves, such as Glorfindel of the Fountain (of Gondolin), the Balrog-slayer, wind up becoming re-embodied and are even found on Middle-earth in time to encounter hobbits and become part of their story.

“Aragorn, the Grey Company and the Sons of Elrond, all being Dunedains and Half-Elves that chose mortality, would have been shaken, but had also had many years to prepare for this point, knowing, after all, that Aragorn was likely going to have to walk this road at some point.”

Point A. The Sons of Elrond did NOT choose mortality. They chose to be Elves and go to the West with their father Elrond and rejoin their mother, who had already gone to Valinor. The only one of Elrond and Celebrian’s children who did not choose Elfdom and immortality was Arwen, who chose to stay on Middle-earth, marry Aragon, and be mortal (the Choice of Luthien).

Point B. Dunedain is already a plural, meaning “Men of the West, Numenorean.” The singular is Dunadan, “Man of the West,” or “Numenorean,” as is explained in “Fellowship of the Ring” by Bilbo to Frodo when he asks why Bilbo refers to Aragorn as “The Dunadan.”

Yes, I MAY be a pedant. I’m also rereading Lord of the Rings for about the 50th time…

This comic seriously irks me. We have plenty of proof that this GM is bad, but when he tried to take control of gimli that way, I felt disdain for him. Kinda silly, since he’s a fictional character, but I still felt it nonetheless. You just don’t ever take control of your PC’s like that. You can make a fear check or whatever, but blatantly suddenly putting it “Your character, and no one else, is afraid now” is just completely unacceptable to me. If he had been my GM, I’d either have stabbed him with a pencil or walked away.

I think some of the other posters might be missing the point of this comic entire (besides the high entertainment value).

The entire thing is showing extreme examples of generally bad play by everyone invovled in the game, GM and players. This is what makes the “campaign” humorous. I feel some amount of pity for those of you getting annoyed by the character interaction, but I humbly direct you to the fact that this entire strip is a highly exaggerated satire about gaming in general.

That being said: if you have nothing nice to say about the hard work Shamus puts forth on a weekly basis, go somewhere else and bitch.